


Light of My Beautiful Life

by aleia



Series: Begin Again [12]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Adopted Children, Adopted Sibling Relationship, Adoption, Anxiety, Borderline Personality Disorder, Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, Mental Health Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-26 23:40:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21577615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aleia/pseuds/aleia
Summary: Finally the adoption story people actually asked for. ;)
Relationships: Alexei "Tater" Mashkov/Kent "Parse" Parson, Eric "Bitty" Bittle/Jack Zimmermann, OMC/OFC, OMC/OMC
Series: Begin Again [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/776691
Comments: 81
Kudos: 202





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So for the most part the Gimme More chapters can be read whenever because they're just extra scenes. Because there is such a time jump before this fic, you need to read up to Chapter 37 of Gimme More to fill in the time gaps there.
> 
> Also worth noting that the first chapter of this fic is set in March of Tater's 6th year with the Aces. So March of Jack's 5th year. And then the 2nd chapter will skip to the following season. So there will another Gimme More chapter in between those chapters. That chapter is less important to timeline, but it's fun to know and you will all like it because it's amazing.
> 
> Also, during that time gap, Jeff adopted a second baby that is mentioned here. So Morgan is 3 and Taylor (a boy) is 2. Jack also has a second kid. Trey is 1. And Kent and Tater moved Elena to the US. Consensus on the other site was that this stuff could happen "off-screen" for now. If you disagree, hope over there and make me write it. lol

The first time Alexei’s contract with the Aces ran out, he agreed to a two-year extension before the previous season ended. The next year, the season ended, but they agreed on a one-year contract easily before free-agency. Kent didn’t worry about it. He knew Alexei could keep playing and even though a couple other teams actually did try to talk to him, there wasn’t a good reason for the Aces to not sign him. But the following year, Kent has to admit there are younger guys who are ready to take Alexei’s place. Eventually, they’re going to have to talk about Alexei’s options, but Kent feels like he has to wait for Alexei to bring it up.

So, Kent talks to Zimms and Jeff and his moms and he decides that they can make it if they have to spend time apart. He’s not going to make Alexei retire. They’ve been married a while and they’re strong. Kent will probably move in with Jeff for half the season so he’s not lonely, but they’ll make it work.

But just because they aren’t talking about it, doesn’t mean they aren’t both thinking about it. There’s a reason Alexei keeps sneaking into Kent’s room on road trips and the rest of the team pretends that they don’t know he’s doing it instead of fining them both to hell.

They’re in Montreal in March when Alexei finally brings it up. Zimms is at his parents’ house for the night with Bitty and their two kids. Kent and Alexei had dinner at the house and then came back to the same hotel room. Kent loves the kids, obviously, but Trey hasn’t been sleeping well at home so Kent can’t imagine that he’s going to sleep better at his grandparents’ house. Kent already did his uncle duty by holding Trey during dinner so Zimms and Bitty could eat.

Still, Kent isn’t expecting it when Alexei says, “I tell my agent I’m done. Not want to talk to other teams. Ready to stop playing.”

Kent turns on the lamp next to the bed. If they’re finally having this conversation, he wants to see Alexei’s face.

“We’ll be okay if you sign somewhere else. We can handle it,” Kent says.

“Not what I want,” Alexei says. “I know is hard for you to understand. But is not what I want. Hockey get me out of Russia. Get me to you. Now I’m ready to move on. Now there’s other things I want more.”

“What do you want?” Kent asks instead of arguing. Kent knows he can’t play forever. But he also knows it’s unlikely he’ll have to look at moving. Still, he can’t imagine giving it up before he has to.

“I think…” Alexei looks up at him. It’s been years since he’s looked nervous to tell Kent anything. Kent takes his hand and kisses his knuckles.

“I want family,” Alexei says. “One of us need to be home for family. And I want family more than I want to play hockey.”

It’s not like they’ve never talked about it. Even years ago, Kent knew he couldn’t marry someone who didn’t want kids. But it’s always been some random time in the future. Because they agreed someone had to retire for it to work and, and even if they both knew it would be Alexei first, Kent wasn’t going to tell him when.

“It doesn’t seem fair,” Kent says, “that you have to quit.”

“Is not about fair. Is what I want,” Alexei says. “Unless you not ready.”

“I’ll still be gone a lot,” Kent says. “I’m ready, but you know you’ll have to do more.”

“Is okay. Elena is here to help me. Other SOaPs help me. Jeff help.”

Kent nods and then smiles before he moves in for a kiss. Kent’s willing to break the rule about having sex before a game just this once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was more of a Prologue which is why I will be posting another Gimme More chapter later tonight or tomorrow. ;)
> 
> I do also post fic to another site. That link can be found as the website link on this twitter: https://twitter.com/XGrimmReaper33  
> I'm also on tumbler as @lostinanimage


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 38 of Gimme More is set after the first chapter of this story, but before this one. If you haven't read it, it won't really hurt your understanding of this chapter, but just worth noting.

It’s not a quick process. Kent knew it wouldn’t be. There are classes that they have to take and home visits. And even after all that, it’s not like there’s a surplus of babies. Kent says they should open it up to older kids, but Alexei says he knows that Kent wants a baby and he’s not wrong. They can always be like Jeff and adopt an older kid later.

On top of that, Elena also has to take classes if she’s going to live with them. They renovated the basement so that she’d basically have her own apartment before they sponsored her to come to the States, but it’s still part of the house and because of that she has to be included in their home visits. Additionally, she’s agreed to help them while Kent is gone. They can’t officially pay her, but she says it helps her feel better about her free rent. It will make their lives easier eventually, but it does mean that she has to do extra classes.

Then it’s just a waiting game. Kent knows he could make it faster if they tried to adopt privately. But he feels like that’s unfair. He doesn’t like the idea that some kid who has parents who can be picky has a better chance to get adopted than a kid who is just stuck in the system. Plus, it gives them more anonymity. There’s still a chance that the birth parents will find out who they are, but Kent would rather feel like there’s some kind of fate involved.

The Aces are in Toronto in mid-November when Kent gets out of the shower and has a text from Alexei asking him to call. They just finished morning skate so he waits until he’s back at the hotel to call.

“How do we feel about two?” Alexei asks.

“Two?”

“A brother and sister. Sister is born in four months. Brother is two and in foster care now. They say mother have to give up, but everyone want to keep them together if possible.”

Kent can’t imagine how anyone would get to that point, but he’s sure it’ll break his heart when they find out.

“You think we can handle two? I’ll still be playing when the baby is born,” Kent says. One kid is terrifying enough. Two at once is another story. Then again, maybe that’s why they’re not already adopted.

“Well, we maybe get boy sooner,” Alexei says. Right. That makes sense. Why would they wait to get the boy for no reason?

“I think we at least consider. We can schedule a meeting when you come back. But is okay if you don’t want. If you think it is too much, then we wait.”

It’s a lot. But Kent also remembers that the reason their moms got Jeff was because no one else wanted a half-Mexican two-year-old with behavioral issues. And where would Jeff be if they didn’t want him? Where would _Kent_ be if they hadn’t adopted Jeff? So he tells Alexei to schedule the meeting.

Then he texts Jeff and their moms asking to do a group Skype. He can eat while they talk and if he has to go without a nap before the game, he’ll live.

“It’s literally impossible for me to not be biased,” Jeff says. “If I don’t say yes, I’m basically a total hypocrite.”

Both of their moms laugh.

“Do you know anything else about the situation?” Mom asks.

“Not yet. We’re supposed to meet with the social worker when I get back. We have to wait almost a week for that and then I’m gone again, so it might be another wait to actually meet the kid. Our roadies are so bad this time of year, but they’re better next month. I’m been home, and this whole thing is a mix of not moving too fast but also wanting the kid to get settled before the baby comes.”

“Is there a chance the mom could change her mind?” Jeff asks.

“I don’t think so. I mean, I think they’re taking the baby away as soon as it’s born regardless. The boy’s already been taken away twice, and she lost custody. They didn’t give details over the phone, but Alexei said it’s unlikely. They’re young enough that they could separate them because the baby would be easy to adopt out alone, but if they can keep them together, they want to.”

“The boy has had a lot of trauma already, then,” Mom says.

“So did I, and I turned out awesome,” Jeff says.

“And we have no regrets about adopting you,” Mama says. “You know that. But we also both took time off work. I took a whole year off work.”

“Tater is retired. Elena lives with them. I only have Taylor during the day until Morgan gets out of pre-school, and Micah will help when you need an extra pair of eyes. He’ll offer to help if you pay him a little. He’s not old enough to be left alone with them, but he’s great with Taylor and Morgan,” Jeff says.

“Jeff,” Mom says.

“Sorry. In my defense, I pointed out I was going to be biased at the very beginning of this conversation,” Jeff says.

“You should probably ask Micah before you volunteer him,” Kent says. “He tends to like going to Reaper’s house instead of mine.”

“Well, he and Mason liked the same boy and Mason won, so your house is probably ahead of Reaper’s for a bit.”

“Are you going to admit your actual teenager is more difficult than me now?” Kent asks.

“Nope,” Jeff says. “He locked himself in his room and said I’ll never understand him, but he didn’t yell at me, run away, or buy a sports car. Second time raising a gay teenager is still easier. Also, he didn’t lie to me so he could drink alone with this boy. Mason is grounded for a while now. He’ll be happy to help if Reaper will let him out of the house. Anyway, in conclusion, I got Micah when he was twelve and everyone said he’d be a nightmare, but the worst thing he’s ever done is be in a bad mood because a boy didn’t like him. You should at least meet this kid before you decide it’s too much.”

“I’m not saying we won’t,” Kent says. “I just want to make sure we really think about it before we do. I’m going to be gone a lot for at least the next six months. It’s a lot.”

“We know,” Mom says before Jeff can speak again. “It’s good that you’re thinking about it and not just rushing into it.”

***

They go through Montreal before they go home, so Kent has the chance to talk to Bob and Alicia about it. Zimms sits next to him on the way home. It’s weird not having Matty on the team. But he’s got Zimms, and Zimms misses Tater and Cupid as much Kent misses Matty. At least there’s no way Zimms will retire before him. Plus, the Aces don’t want to let go of Mills if they can help it. Though if they don’t take Cupid back when he becomes a free agent, Mills might leave when he has a chance. Kent’s hoping that doesn’t happen, but he gets it. It’s hard enough leaving Alexei at home when they travel. He can’t imagine what he’d do if Alexei was in Houston. They only play Houston three times. Kent’s not going to say anything when the Aeros come to town and Mills sneaks into the hotel.

“You’ll be a great dad. Whenever it happens, you’re going to be great,” Zimms says.

“And if we get these kids, my boy will be about the same age as Trey?”

“Exactly.” Zimms grins.

“See, that sounds so great now, but right now Jeff’s and Reaper’s boys hate each other.”

“They were best friends two weeks ago. They’ll get over it,” Zimms says. He’s looking down at his phone and watching the video of Lizzie that Bitty sent him. Bitty sends him a different video of Lizzie skating every few days and Zimms watches every single one.

“Do you hate leaving them so much?” Kent asks.

“Kind of. I miss stuff and that’s hard,” Zimms says. “But I’m glad that I remember my dad playing. And I remember how much time he tried to put in when he was home. I do that. Bits travels with them when he can. The other SOaPs help a lot.”

“Can I ask you a stupid question?” Kent asks.

Zimms looks around and leans closer so Kent should know he’s going to say something awful.

“Is it actually worse than when you asked me if you were bad in bed because Tater wouldn’t fuck you?”

“I hate you so much.”

“I’m just saying. It’s probably not as stupid as that was,” Jack says.

“You’ve ruined this entire conversation about having kids with weird sex talk.”

“I know you’re gay, so I hate to tell you this, but to make kids…”

“Shut up, your kids were made in a test tube. No sex was involved at all. No, it doesn’t count if you helped each other jack off in the cup. I hope you’re happy that you grew up to be as awful as your dad.”

Zimms laughs. When his kids run away because he tries to give them sex talks, Kent’s just going to keep them.

“Sorry. What was your question?”

Kent rolls his eyes. But he does feel a little more relaxed about the whole thing.

“What if I’m gone too much? This boy is already two. What if I’m gone so much in the beginning that he doesn’t even understand that I’m his dad? What if he gets confused? What if he never gets used to me because I’m gone too much?”

“Did Mason and Emily ever get confused about Reaper being their dad? You knew them the whole time.”

“No. But Mason wasn’t two already. And Mason acted out before the beginning of the season every year. It’s part of why Reaper retired. And now he doesn’t even travel with us.”

“But Mason still turned out okay, and now, he gets to have Reaper follow him to all his skating competitions,” Zimms points out.

“Mason lied about where he was going last week and got drunk with his boyfriend. Reaper is terrified he’s going to have sex and he’s not even thirteen yet.”

“He’s almost a teenager. I don’t think any of that is because Reaper traveled a lot. I met Mason when he was seven and he was already a handful. He had a boyfriend when he was ten. And you make it sound like it didn’t take only one spritzer. Mason’s not a big kid and he drank one bottle after never having alcohol before. I’m not saying he shouldn’t be grounded, but he wasn’t drunk,” Zimms says.

“You think he’s worrying too much,” Kent says.

“I’m not going to say that so you can remind me when Trey’s thirteen.”

Kent laughs.

“I wasn’t a mess because my dad was gone when I was a kid,” Zimms says. “He retired way before my anxiety got so bad and always had some issues that didn’t have anything to do with him not being there. And as to your first question: I always knew who my dad was. He was around as much as he could. He was at more of my hockey practices than some of my friends’ parents. Because he tried and their parents just stayed at the office and took being home for granted. You won’t do that. You’ll be fine.”

“Thanks, Zimms.”

“And our kids are definitely going to be best friends,” Zimms adds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up, we get to meet the first of Kent and Tater's kids. <3
> 
> I do also post fic to another site. That link can be found as the website link on this twitter: https://twitter.com/XGrimmReaper33  
> I'm also on tumbler as @lostinanimage


	3. Chapter 3

Jeff’s told Kent everything he knows about the adoption process at least three times. They adopted Taylor over a year ago when he was one and then Micah over the summer. Jeff knows basically everything there is to know, but Kent’s still nervous when they go to meet the boy. It would be more helpful if Jeff remembered anything about his own adoption, but he doesn’t. Mama says Jeff was quiet and withdrawn before they took him home and then once they got him home, he just cried and cried and wouldn’t talk at all. Eventually the crying turned into crying _and_ tantrums for weeks.

“But eventually, he’d crawl into my lap and let me hold him until he calmed down,” Mama said. “He was just scared. He’d been hurt a lot his whole life by people a lot bigger than him. He still had stitches on his forehead when they brought him over.”

So, Kent knows how much work he might be leaving Alexei to do without him. Elena will help, but she’s on a student visa and the kids aren’t hers. Kent has no idea what the kid looks like because Tater didn’t ask. It’s not like either of them care.

“He kind of knows why he’s here,” their social worker Alison tells them. “He’s been in foster care only a month this time, but it’s not the first time. He knows he’s not going back to his mother again, but that’s about it. It’s kind of hard for kids this young to understand what’s going on.”

They’ve read his file. Ethan’s life hasn’t been as bad as Jeff’s was, but that doesn’t mean much. Ethan is sitting on the floor of the small playroom. Another social worker is trying to get him to play with the blocks and toy cars in front of him, but he doesn’t even seem to be listening. He’s two months older than Trey but he’s smaller. His straight blonde hair is just a little too long and it hangs over his face. He doesn’t look up when they come in or when he’s told they’re here to meet him.

Kent sits down on the floor because he feels like maybe that’ll be less scary. Alexei sits with him.

“Hey. Do you like cars?” Kent asks as he pushes one of the toy cars. Ethen’s two. Kent can’t exactly say, “Do you want two dads? If so, we can be your new parents. How’s that sound?”

Ethen doesn’t answer him.

“I like cars,” Alexei says. “He says I drive bad.”

“Because he does,” Kent says. “But he’s good at lots of other things.”

Ethen curls into himself and doesn’t answer. It breaks Kent’s heart to see him scared and not be able to do anything about it.

“We won’t hurt you,” Kent says.

Ethen looks up at him then.

“Everyone hurt,” he says. Or Kent is pretty sure that’s what he’s saying. The first word doesn’t sound quite right.

“Do Chase and Alyssa hurt you?” the social worker asks before Kent can say anything. Kent thinks those are the names of his foster parents.

“Loud. Kids mean,” Ethan says.

“That could mean a lot of things,” Alison says. “There’s two other kids in the house.”

“Our house isn’t that loud,” Kent says to Ethan. “It’s just us and his sister. Though we might have a baby soon.”

“My sister,” Ethan says. “She come?”

“Yes. We keep together,” Alexei says.

Ethen just nods and pulls his legs closer to him.

“This might be enough for today,” Alison says.

“Go back?” Ethan asks.

“Yes,” Alison tells him. “I’ll take you back to the house.”

“No!” Ethan screams and then starts crying. Kent wants to pick him up. Hold him close and tell him it’s going to be okay. But Ethan’s not like Jeff’s kids or Zimms’ kids. Ethan doesn’t know them. Kent picking him up might just be scary.

“What if something’s wrong?” Kent asks Alison instead. “Why doesn’t he want to go back there?”

“We will look into it, but you know how much we check in.”

It’s true, but it doesn’t make Kent feel better.

“Hey. We’ll come see you again, okay? As soon as we can,” Kent says even though he doesn’t know if that will help.

“I go you?” Ethan asks. Kent doesn’t know if he means now or next time. Toddlers are hard to understand.

“I don’t know. We’ll see,” Alison answers for him. Alexei also promises that they’ll come back before Alison leads them out of the room. Kent can see the other social worker trying to calm Ethan down through a window.

“I really don’t think they’re hurting him,” Alison says when they’re outside the door. “I’ll still talk to him and see what I can get, and we’ll do checks. But I’ve talked to the foster parents and the other kids in the house a lot. He doesn’t interact with the other kids and he cries a lot, so they complain about him. They’re older than him, but not old enough that they have a lot of sympathy.”

“And you can’t move him somewhere without other kids?” Kent asks.

Alison gives him a look that says that’s exactly what she’s trying to do. Right. They are the house without other kids that she’s trying to move him to. Kent looks at Alexei.

“You love already,” Alexei says. It’s not a question. If Jeff was anything like Ethan, Kent can see exactly why their moms fell in love with him right away.

“I’d take him home with us now if it was allowed,” Kent admits.

Alison looks at Alexei and he nods.

“We can’t do today,” Alison says, “But we can start the process.”

“Really?” Kent feels like that’s too easy.

“You’re already approved as foster parents. Alexei’s sister is approved to be at the house. And we were already looking at moving him. I really do think they’re good foster parents, and they’re doing the best they can. But the other kids in the household right now are just too much for him. If we’re going to move him anyway, we might as well move him as little as possible.”

“I have to fly out Saturday, but I’ll be back next Thursday,” Kent says. “It’s the last long trip for a while.”

“Can you come in and do some paperwork before then?” Alison asks as she pulls out her phone to look something up.

“Tomorrow?” Kent says and Alison nods.

“You’re back Thursday. How long?”

Kent doesn’t have to pull out his schedule because he always knows when they’re playing against the Kings or the Ducks. Games his moms are guaranteed to come to are always his favorites.

“Five days, but then I’ll just be gone a day. We’re just flying to LA and back right after the game. And then I’m back a couple days. We have mostly short trips in December and a lot of home games.”

“We can shoot for the Friday after you get home if you want,” Alison says. “It’s not perfect, but that’s not the worst it could be. Go home. Talk about it. Tell me what you think when you come back tomorrow. I’ll talk to Ethan some before that.”

They agree and then don’t say anything as they walk back to the car. Alexei drove in his car, but Kent cuts him off on the walk back and gets in the driver’s seat. Alexei’s gotten better because Kent threatened to hire a driver for when Alexei is alone with the kids, but Kent still doesn’t want to him driving when they’re stressed. Alexei doesn’t argue. He just walks around to the other side as Kent adjusts the seat.

“You really want to do this?” Kent asks instead of starting the car. “I’m going to be gone a lot and he’s not going to be easy.”

“You say you not easy, and that just made me want to love you more,” Alexei says.

Kent has to kiss him for that. When he pulls back, he leaves their heads pressed together.

“I love you so much. You’re amazing. You know that?”

“I know,” Alexei says with a smile. He kisses Kent again before he adds, “I love you too.”

***

“He’s so small,” Kent tells his moms and Jeff when he Skypes them that night. “And it’s not like when you got Taylor. He’s old enough that I’m not even sure if I should just pick him up before he really knows me. But also, we’re obviously going to have to pick him up sometimes.”

Mama nods.

“Jeff fought us a lot on that the first few months. It’s understandable, but he can’t get in a car or a highchair without help either. He _is_ probably used to it a bit from being moved around in the system. Sometimes Jeff was fine with it, like he was kind of putting up with it because he knew he had to. Sometimes he wasn’t. It was all dependent on his moods. But the more we didn’t hurt him, the easier it was. He just needed to know that we were safe,” Mama says.

“I don’t remember ever not knowing you were safe,” Jeff says. It occurs to Kent that it’s probably the first time he’s heard some of these stories.

“That’s the other good news,” Mom says. “It’ll be rough for you and Alexei, but he’ll forget a lot of the trauma. Jeff was just like a normal five-year-old. He had a bit of a phase when he was eleven and some of that had to do with his adoption and not having a dad. But some of it probably had to do with puberty the same as any kid that age. And compared to some of our friends’ kids, he was always the sweetest boy. Still is.”

“Mom,” Jeff says with a groan. Krystle walks past the camera behind him and threatens to record his tone and play it back for Micah. It takes a few minutes for them all to stop laughing at him.

“When he’s ready, we’ll come up and help if you want,” Mom says.

“His adoption day will be the same as yours if you count from when you pick him up instead of when it’s all legal,” Jeff points out.

“I didn’t even realize that,” Kent admits. “It just happened so fast.”

“It was like that with Jeff,” Mama says. “One minute I was wondering if I should’ve planned to teach the next year and three days later, I was trying to get parental leave early because there was this little boy I had to take home.”

“And then we thought we were done, and Jeff called us about you. I had to talk her out of driving to Vegas to try to bring _you_ home,” Mom adds.

“She would’ve let me if she didn’t think it would freak you out,” Mama says. “Jeff had it under control though.”

Jeff laughs.

“To be fair, you threw tantrums when we adopted you, too,” Jeff says. “You just waited until I’d already had you for almost a year to act out.”

“So Micah might still be more difficult than me,” Kent says. “You haven’t had him a full year yet.”

Jeff groans.

“Stop. My teenager reads and does his homework without me asking him to. He has straight As. Don’t curse me.”

“I went to training and technically did the hockey equivalent of that the entire time,” Kent says.

“Do you want me to start thinking up things our moms don’t know you did in revenge for scaring me?” Jeff asks.

Kent shuts up. Their moms know he had a breakdown in Sweden the first time he went to Worlds and that Jeff flew across the ocean because of it. They do not know that he also let two random guys fuck him during that trip. When he looks back to their half of the screen, Mom and Mama are both laughing.

“Micah will be fine. Ethan will fine. Just like both of you are,” Mom says.

Part of Kent relaxes. If he didn’t get adopted until he was seventeen and he still got to the point of being okay, then Ethan can too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do also post fic to another site. That link can be found as the website link on this twitter: https://twitter.com/XGrimmReaper33  
> I'm also on tumbler as @lostinanimage
> 
> That's were you can find the Cupid/Mills fics. Though Mason says it's all about him now. And Micah. I didn't actually plan for Jeff to adopt a kind similar to Kent and Kent to adopt a kid the age that Jeff was, but oops, it happened. (I wanted Jeff to have a kid the same age as Mason and Kent to have kids close to the age of Jack's and Matty's kids.)


	4. Chapter 4

Kent spends every spare moment of their New York roadie on the phone. Reminiscent of Kent giving up his room at Jeff’s house for Micah, it makes the most sense to put Ethan in Mills’ room. It’s not the closest room to theirs but they don’t want to have to relocate Ethan when his sister comes. They move all of Mills’ things to another guestroom and Alexei has to get rid of some of the furniture to make room for things that are more appropriate for a toddler. The ground floor of their house is mostly babyproofed for Jeff’s kids, but Ty and Reaper come over to help Alexei babyproof the top floor and the backyard. Bitty helps Kent make decorating decisions from New York so that Kent doesn’t feel completely left out. They can’t have any kind of a party, but the SOaPs all bring by gifts and help Alexei where they can. Kent comes back to a house that looks different.

Jeff comes over with Reaper.

“I already feel like I missed stuff,” Kent says when Alexei’s out of the room.

“I know,” Reaper says. “It’s like that. But you just have to talk to Tater. Tell him when you feel left out. Try to do as much as you can. Do a lot of video calls with Ethan there so that he sees you a lot from the beginning. It’ll be okay.”

“Also, we got you things,” Jeff adds.

Kent knows he already got literally every piece of Aces merch that’s toddler appropriate. He let the team buy Ethan’s “Daddy” jersey.

Reaper gives him an Aces Build-a-Bear. It’s not as custom as the ones that Mason and Micah have because the team hasn’t made those in years, but that’s okay, because he already feels bad that they don’t have as much stuff with Alexei’s name and number.

“Mason says it helped to have the bear with my jersey when I was gone. It was half his idea,” Reaper says.

“Thanks,” Kent says and hugs him. Kent knew it was hard on Reaper to leave his kids so much, but he didn’t really get it at the time. He was selfishly glad to have Reaper with him.  
Jeff hands him a slim package.

“It’s basically a family tradition. With a slight change,” Jeff says.

It’s the picture book _Daddy, Papa, and Me_. The dad version of Jeff’s old book that they gave Kent when he was adopted.

“This is a thing, right?” Reaper says. “Because he gave everyone a heads up that they couldn’t buy it for you guys because he was claiming it as a gift.”

On the inside cover Jeff’s written a note.

_Ethan,  
Your grandmothers gave me a similar book when I was your age. I know your dads are going to make sure you’re just as loved as I was.  
Love,  
Uncle Jeff_

Kent hugs Jeff. He doesn’t even care that he’s crying in front of Reaper. He’ll find something to blackmail Reaper into being quiet about it later.

“You’re going to be great,” Jeff says.

***

They have to fill out even more paperwork the next day and they’ll have to go to court to officially adopt him another day, but Alison assures them that anyone who had rights to claim Ethan has lost them or given up those rights. Most importantly, they get to pick Ethan up and take him home.

They pack two boxes of his things into the trunk of the car before they go to meet Ethan again.

“He understands mostly,” Alison says. “He knows he’s getting two daddies and that it means he won’t have to move around anymore and that he’ll be with his sister. It’s still scary for him, but we’ve done everything we can to make it less scary. Ideally, we’d have had more visits before moving him. I wish I could say the ideal happened most of the time, but there’s just not enough space for that.”

Kent nods and she leads them into the same playroom where they met Ethan a week ago. He looks up at them with wide eyes as Kent kneels down and holds out the bear that Reaper gave him.

“Hey. We got you this,” Kent says. “He’s dressed up like me when I go to work.”

“My daddy now?” Ethan asks. He takes the bear and hugs it.

“Yeah. And this is your papa,” Kent says as Alexei kneels down.

“Papa.” Ethan says.

“Is another name for daddy. Since you have two,” Alexei says.

Ethan nods. Then he reaches for Alexei and Alexei picks him up. He’s quiet as they get him buckled into the car, but he cries out when they move to get in.

“I sit in back, yes?” Alexei says as he puts himself back into Ethan’s sight and points so that Ethan understands. The car seat is behind the passenger seat so Alexei has to fold himself into the backseat behind Kent. Alexei doesn’t fit in a backseat at all, but he doesn’t seem to care. When they get to the house, Ethan’s still clutching his bear. Kent sneaks a picture. He can’t text it to Reaper until the adoption is finalized, but he’ll show Reaper the picture eventually.

“We’re home,” Kent explains as he unbuckles Ethan and lifts him out of the car while Tater unloads his boxes.

“Papa’s sister—your Aunt Elena—lives with us. She’ll help Papa take care of you when I’m at work. She’s really nice.”

Ethan cuddles close to him as he unlocks the door and goes inside. Elena comes out of the living room. They decided that she was the one person Ethan had to meet right away. As much as Kent wants it to be Jeff, Elena lives in their house and will be helping Alexei the most. Jeff has three kids and Kent was able to be the first to meet all of them, but this time, it just doesn’t make sense.

Ethan nods and he doesn’t seem upset by Elena’s presence.

“Do you want to see your room?” Elena asks.

Ethan doesn’t answer her, but he’s two, so Kent just decides to keep walking him around the house.

“This is your room,” Kent says as he holds Ethan at the doorway.

“Our room is right across the hall over here if you need us,” Kent continues as he walks over to their room.

Kent walks Ethan through the whole house while Ethan stays mostly quiet. He doesn’t let go of the bear the entire time.

***

Kent texts his moms a million times in the following hours. It’s creepy how quiet Ethan is. Mama says he’s probably just overwhelmed.

When they try to get him to eat, Kent misses the silence. Ethan said he was hungry, but he won’t eat anything and starts screaming when they don’t understand what he wants. They bought a lot of kid-friendly food. Ethan’s foster parents said he would eat anything, and his medical records say he has no food allergies. And really, Kent was sure they would get chirped to death for buying him so many options. But he doesn’t like anything they offer him. It’s stupid. Mason’s a picky eater the same way he’s picky about everything. Kent could get him to eat. He’s fed lots of toddlers. He’s helped all his friends with their kids and now he can’t get his own kid to eat.

Kent wants to call everyone in his family and extended family to come help him, but they agreed that three people was enough to push on Ethan on the first day. Elena has class. But Kent and Alexei should be able to do this. They’re Ethan’s parents. Alexei picks Ethan up out of the highchair and tries to calm him down while he walks around the kitchen hoping Ethan will pick something he likes. Kent texts his extended family group text. Only his moms can mock him. He’s saved all of his friends from their own kid-related panic at some point.

 **Krystle:** It feels worse because it’s your kid and you think you should have it together. You’ve told literally all of us that staying calm is half the battle.  
**Swoops:** And you know he’s probably going to get upset more easily for a while. Taylor was like that. Nothing is familiar and lots of things are scary. He understands more than Taylor did, but not much. You’ve done this before. Just keep comforting him and he’ll calm down.  
**Kent:** He’s doing that toddler thing where he knows what he’s saying but it’s kind of impossible to understand unless you know him. And we don’t know him yet. I could understand all of your kids at this stage. I have no idea what he’s saying.  
**Ty:** Try things that are really basic. Cut up grapes. Dry cereal. Cheese cubes.

Kent tries everything Ty lists and Ethan doesn’t want any of it.

 **Mama:** What do you have that’s cheap and filling? That isn’t awful but not what you really want him to eat?  
**Kent:** I don’t know what you mean.  
**Mom:** Try macaroni and cheese. The cheap kind in the box. It’ll take a bit to make, but he might recognize the box if you have it and calm down.  
**Kent:** I don’t think we have that.  
**Swoops:** You have it. It’s in the pantry with the other boxed stuff. I also bought you the easy kind in the cups. Those only take like a minute.  
Kent finds two boxes and brings one out to show Ethan. He reaches for it and quiets. Kent lets him have it to hold. Jeff said the cup kind was faster.

“You can hold this and I’ll make some,” Kent tells him. Ethan nods. Kent knows that they’re not going to let Ethan have this stuff for every meal, but it’s the first day. 

**Kent:** I love you so much that I’m not even judging you if you’re secretly letting your kids live off this.  
**Swoops:** We aren’t. But the moms can explain this one.  
**Mama:** It was all we could get Jeff to eat when we first got him. That and cut up hotdogs and chicken nuggets. We had to introduce healthier food slowly.  
**Mom:** Foster kids don’t always get the best diet. Especially if they’re in homes with multiple kids. It’s cheaper and easier most of the time. And it’s not the worst thing if it doesn’t hurt them too much.  
**Swoops:** I remembered the story. I did sneak some healthier hotdogs in your fridge also.  
**Mom:** We also had to give up soda. We couldn’t drink a Coke without him screaming for it. And there were limits to what we were going to give a two-year-old even in the eighties.  
**Kent:** Suddenly I’m happy Ethan doesn’t mind milk and water.  
**Mama:** It won’t kill him to eat some of that stuff. He’s two. He’s not on a nutrition plan. Try different vegetables and fruits every day and he’ll like something. Get him to snack on dry cereal when you can.  
**Kent:** Thanks guys. I don’t know how any of you guys did this.  
**Reaper:** With lots of help from you in most cases.

Kent reads Daddy, Papa, and Me on the first night because it’s special. Ethan shakes his head when Kent offers a nightlight but nods when they ask if he wants them to stay until he’s asleep. Ethan falls asleep with the Aces teddy bear in his arms. Kent takes a picture and sets it as his phone background.

Ethan wakes them up crying at three am. Both of them get up because it’s the first time. He calms almost as soon Kent picks him up.

“You’re okay,” Kent says as he walks with him. “You’re with us. You’re safe.”

They get him back to bed easily enough. He’s two years-old, not two months. He probably woke up and didn’t remember where he was, but he’s not a baby who doesn’t understand anything.

“You should sleep while I’m home,” Kent tells Alexei.

“You skate in the morning and game tomorrow. You need sleep. Elena help in afternoon if I need nap,” Alexei says.

Kent doesn’t argue because he has to go back to sleep. Alexei’s not wrong, but he’s not going to just make Alexei get up every time either. Especially when they get the baby.

***

Ethan is awake when Kent gets up for morning skate, so Kent lets Alexei sleep later. He rejects yogurt, but snacks on cereal. Kent offers him some blueberries and he hesitates but once he tries them, he eats a few. Kent gets him cleaned up before carrying him into their bedroom. He babbles and Kent tries to make sense of some of it.

“I have to go to work soon, so we’re going to wake up Papa,” Kent tells him.

Passing Ethan off to Alexei goes better than Kent expected. He’s old enough that he knows parents have to go to work. And he’s probably not emotionally attached to either of them yet, so he’s not going to cry just because Kent leaves. Of course, it’s still not easy for Kent. He thought it wouldn’t be too bad. It’s not like Ethan’s a newborn. He’s only leaving for a few hours. But it’s still awful.

 **Kent:** You had the right idea just waiting until you retired so you could just stay home with your kids. :’(  
**Swoops:** I’m sorry. It does eventually get easier to do though. And sometimes you’re looking for excuses to leave.

***

Zimms corners him for baby pictures in the parking lot. By the time they actually make it to the locker room, Kent’s phone has been passed through half the team. Of course, the younger guys are mostly just nodding politely. Kent gets it. Ethan’s a bit more exiting to look at than a newborn who looks exactly like every other newborn, but he’s still a kid that they won’t even all get to meet for a while.

“First skate is the hardest,” Zimms says.

Zimms is right, but Zimms and Mills also have his back, so if he’s a little off, they can pick up the slack for one practice. And Kent’s a professional. Kent can shut off his brain and play hockey. He gets asked by the media why he missed practice the previous day, but he avoids the question. They’ve already decided that they aren’t going to completely hide Ethan, but they can’t say too much until the adoption is finalized.

He lets Mills and Zimms handle everything with the team after practice so he can go home.

Ethan’s crying when Kent gets home. He’s also throwing his toys at Alexei. Alexei looks like he wants to cry too. Kent drops his things by the door and comes to sit down on the floor with them. Which only gets a toy thrown at him.

“He tired but won’t nap. I try twice. He just get up,” Alexei says. “I say we try again when you get home.”

Kent nods and picks Ethan up. He only resists a little before giving up and at least letting Kent carry him.

“No nap,” Ethan says.

“Daddy and Papa need a nap. We’ll all nap,” Kent says.

He swore he wasn’t going to start Ethan sleeping in their bed, but after Ethan refuses to sleep for half an hour, Kent gives into his exhaustion and carries Ethan to their room where Alexei is already asleep in their bed. He lies Ethan down between them and rests his hand on Ethan’s side. Ethan finally stays still long enough to fall asleep. Kent knows he should move Ethan back to his bed, but he’s less scared of Ethan developing a habit of napping in their bed than he is of waking Ethan up again, so he just closes his eyes and relaxes.

***

They have to introduce Ethan to everyone gradually no matter how much Kent wants to have more people to help. He lived at Jeff’s house a for month after Morgan was born and for two weeks after Taylor was brought home. He didn’t move in when they adopted Micah, but he took Micah shopping the first week so that he’d have more than three shirts to wear.

So, Kent starts talking about Jeff and showing Ethan pictures of Jeff and Krystle. It’s kind of stupid, but he can’t help it. He rationalizes that they need to have other babysitting options while he’s out of town and Jeff only has a job during prospect camp. He Skypes Jeff and their moms while Alexei can bring Ethan in and then leave before he gets bored.

Finally, he just tells Ethan that Jeff’s going to come by, and Ethan doesn’t freak out. He makes sure he’s carrying Ethan so that Jeff doesn’t tower over him. Maybe, by the end of the season, they’ll feel like they can take him to at least one game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do also post fic to another site. That link can be found as the website link on this twitter: https://twitter.com/XGrimmReaper33  
> I'm also on tumbler as @lostinanimage
> 
> That's were you can find the Cupid/Mills fics. Though Mason says it's all about him now. And Micah. I didn't actually plan for Jeff to adopt a kind similar to Kent and Kent to adopt a kid the age that Jeff was, but oops, it happened. (I wanted Jeff to have a kid the same age as Mason and Kent to have kids close to the age of Jack's and Matty's kids.)
> 
> Also, I'm off work until Christmas and bored as fuck. If there was ever a time to ask me for a random Gimme More scene, now is the time.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter overlaps a bit with Chapter 39 of Gimme More. Basically chapter 39 of Gimme more expands on the last section of this chapter. My personal opinion is that it's more fun to read Chapter 39 first. However, they can be read in any order.

It takes over a month of worrying to get a court date for the adoption.

**Parse:** We finally got a court date for the adoption. I’m going to have to miss the Vancouver game, but I’ll fly to Houston the next day.  
 **Zimms:** It’s fine. We got you.  
 **Mills:** Great timing. Now I can steal my center back while you’re gone. 😏  
 **Parse:** He’s not your center. 🙄  
 **Mills:** Just accept your new line. He’s mine now. This is what you get for being able to play center. 😘  
 **Parse:** Don’t re-injure yourself in Houston and maybe you won’t lose him again.  
 **Ozzy:** Are Bitty, Tater and Cupid aware of this on-going fight over Zimms?  
 **Zimms:** Yes. Only Cupid’s picked a side.

Kent’s moms come up for the adoption and even though Zimms and Mills can’t be there, Reaper, Jeff, Ty, and Krystle all come to celebrate. Ethan’s used to all of them by now, but he still stays quiet with so many people around at once. He also demands to be carried until most of the crowd leaves. He spends most of that time hiding his face in the chest of whoever is holding him.

After they get back home, they change Ethan into a _Daddy_ Aces jersey and take a family picture with Ethan’s back to the camera. Kent’s only missed two practices and one game for the adoption, but the rumors about what his “personal time” is for have been ridiculous. Plus, he doesn’t want to hide his family. Privacy is one thing, but they all generally announce when someone has a new kid. It helps that the Aces win for him so no one gets mad about him missing the game. It doesn’t make it any easier to leave Ethan and fly to Houston the next morning to meet the team.

***

Kent mostly knows Ryan Grimm through Reaper. They were in the same draft class, but Ryan drafted lower and played in the WHL so they didn’t interact much before the NHL. On top of that, Ryan didn’t make it to the NHL until four years later. So Kent knows him, but he didn’t start getting to know Ryan better until Mills started to get to know more of Reaper’s family. Now that Cupid is on the Aeros, Kent and Zimms accept the invitation to have dinner at his house the day before the game in Houston. It’s probably the only time they’ll be able to see Cupid since Mills has been very vocal about not sharing the little time that he gets.

It’s only a little odd without Reaper there. Everyone wants to see pictures of Ethan, and Kent is more than happy to show them as many as they want. Cornering Cupid isn’t easy, but he manages to get him alone outside while the kids distract Mills.

“I’m okay,” Cupid says before Kent even has a chance to ask. “It’s only a few more months. My agent knows I want to be back in Vegas before I sign here. Everyone knows. He’s still talking to George as a second option, but George knows it’s a second option.”

“And Alex probably knows he can hardball you and get you back for less than you’re worth,” Kent says.

Cupid shrugs. Alex is a great GM. Kent likes him. But he’s not a saint. He’s supportive of their sexualities, but Alex also knows he’s lucky to have Kent Parson, Malik Miller, and Jack Zimmermann on the same team. He probably suspects that he’ll never sign Mills to an extension the next year unless he figures out how to get Cupid back. It’s still business. In Alex’s defense, if all the other teams would be as supportive, Alex and George wouldn’t have an advantage. It’s a big reason that Cupid doesn’t want to come out. With Alexei, everyone knew that Kent wasn’t going to leave the Aces no matter what. Everyone knows that Mills doesn’t want to, but it’s different. And Cupid doesn’t want to deal with the media debating if the Aces are only keeping him to keep Mills.

“You guys are probably going to make the playoffs,” Kent points out.

“It’s December,” Cupid says. “Don’t curse us.”

Kent laughs and nods.

“Is Mills really okay?” Cupid asks.

“He misses you,” Kent says because he can’t lie. “But he’s occupied at Reaper’s house. Mason keeps him busy if he starts to miss you too much.”

Cupid laughs.

“At least I heard Mason dumped that boy they all hated?”

“He got Mason drunk.” Kent says.

“And asked him to skip dance class?”

“Major mistake,” Kent says with a laugh. “I swear Micah found out he was going to say that Mason skipping his training was no big deal and then helped them talk just so Mason would dump him.”

“And magically Micah’s no longer interested in the kid anymore either? He probably just told Reaper, ‘I swear if you let them have one conversation, Mason will break it off’ and Reaper went with it.”

“Mason’s thirteen now. Reaper needed one less thing to freak out about,” Kent says. “Mason liked your birthday present by the way. Also, he says to tell you to please send Mills back less grumpy.”

***

Cenzar gets hit hard in Dallas and can’t come back to the game. Kent hears that Chowder is en route to Vegas before they even start the third period. Judy doesn’t seem to hit a stride in the last two periods, and they can’t even win for Cenzar.

“It’s bad,” Judy tells Kent when Kent gets back to the locker room after talking to the media. “They’re not letting Cenzar fly back with us. He has to stay in the hospital for observation.”

“They’ll send him back tomorrow,” Kent says. “He’s not that bad. They just don’t want to make him fly yet.”

“I wasn’t good enough.”

Kent can’t lie to him, so he just hugs him. As much as he wants to be home with Ethan, his team still needs him to be the captain and he really can’t take time off now that they’re short a goalie.

***

Ethan still can’t sleep through the night after three months. It’s not as bad it could be. He always goes back to sleep as soon as one of them goes to his room and reminds him where he is. And even though they still can’t get him to nap by himself, Ethan does sleep alone at night. Kent tries to get up more than Alexei as much as possible because he knows they’re going to have to prioritize Kent’s sleep after the baby comes. Besides, Kent gets a full night of sleep every time they take a road trip.

They get updates about Ethan’s sister periodically. The mother doesn’t want to meet them, but they get updates about the baby’s health. They text each other name ideas when Kent gets homesick.

As much as Kent pretends to be annoyed that he’s back playing center while Mills plays with Zimms, it gives him an excuse to push for Mills to go to the All-Star game. Or they can just send Zimms. Zimms is better than him and Kent can admit that. Not aloud to anyone who will tell Zimms, but he knows it. Kent’s not as fast as he used to be. They’ve only been sending Kent instead of Mills out of habit. He’s only beating Mills in points because Mills missed three weeks with a shoulder injury. He’s still one of the best players in the NHL and he makes up for his dwindling speed with skill, but he’s moving past his prime as Mills hits his best years. Ten years ago, Kent dreaded this point in his career. Now, he’s just proud of everything Mills does.

Maybe the league knows that he intends to get out of it, because they do ask Mills and Zimms instead. Kent gets a long vacation to spend with Ethan and get the nursery ready. They’ve taken Ethan a few times to play with Jeff’s kids and Zimms’ kids. It hasn’t been too bad, but he always spends part of that time in the lap of an adult. Either way, he seems excited to get a sister. With both of them at home every day, Ethan even sleeps through the night twice.

“I feel like it’s going to make it worse when I have to leave again,” Kent admits to Alexei the day before the next roadie.

“Is just time. He be okay. We FaceTime.”

The next trip takes them all the way to Florida. The guys talk him into spending at least one day on the beach.

“Pouting in your hotel doesn’t do Ethan any good,” Zimms says. “It just makes you depressed.”

“Maybe it makes me feel less guilty,” Kent argues even though he knows Zimms is right.

“I will send Chowder after you,” Zimms says. “And Mills. At the same time.”

It’s a dumb argument because Chowder and Mills both come to the beach with them, but Kent goes and complains about getting sand everywhere.

“Maybe if Bits isn’t filming next year, he and Tater can bring all the kids on this trip,” Zimms says.

“Yeah. Maybe.”

***

Alexei insists on asking Elena to babysit for the Schooners game. She’s been helping with Ethan a lot. She’s the reason Alexei gets any sleep while Kent’s on the road. But they’ve avoided leaving Ethan with her for more than a couple hours at a time. They’re not too proud to get help, but they want to make sure they’re raising their own kids. But Alexei says he’ll worry too much if he’s not there to watch them play the Schooners in person.

“Curren’s not even on the team anymore. Sponsler retired,” Kent argues.

“I still go. Ethan will be fine with Elena.”

Kent gives up. There’s still a game against the Schooners in Seattle that Alexei will have to miss, so Kent figures he should give him this game.

And the team needs Kent to be on point. Zimms and Mills are good alternates, but he’s still the captain. He still has to keep them fighting even though it looks like Cenzar is out for the season and Judy is in line for a trade.

Kent runs into Judy leaving the rink as Kent walks into the arena.

“They’re sending me home. Nothing’s gone through yet, but they’re close to something,” Judy says. “I can’t practice, so I might as well pack.”

“Did they tell you where?” Kent asks.

“Not a clue.”

Kent hugs him. He’s a good guy and even if his season hasn’t been ideal, it’s not like he was ever expected to play as many games as he has. They’ll still in the running for the playoffs even if it’s going to be close. Judy got them that far and it feels unfair that they’re going to trade him to make it all the way. Trades this late in the season always feel unfair. Cupid was with them for years and then got cheated out of their last playoff run. Now it’s looking like the Aeros are going to trade him again and cheat him out of another. Mills refuses to talk about it. Zimms swears Cupid’s talked to him about it, but Kent worries Cupid’s just begged Zimms to get Kent off his back.

The guys are quiet. Even Chowder’s quiet. Kent’s never really understood how goalies manage. The team only ever carries two of them and they’re always close to each other. Chowder and Judy have been sharing the weight. Now Chowder staying means that Judy has to leave.

“Did you get to talk to Judy before he left?” Kent asks him.

“Yeah. He said he’s okay. I’ll play tonight unless they trade with someone close really soon,” Chowder says.

“You can do that,” Kent says. “Come on. We got you because you bailed us out of that game with a lot less preparation.”

Chowder nods. Zimms comes over and Kent moves off to get dressed. Kent’s always going to check in with all of his teammates who might need it, but all the older guys adopt rookies so that he doesn’t carry everything. Chowder’s always going to lean on Zimms more. Zimms is always going to feel a little like he’s Chowder’s captain.

Mills has been pretending to ignore all the trade rumors for the last two weeks. He says it doesn’t matter where Cupid goes for the next few months. What matters is that Cupid keeps playing well enough for the Aces to want him back. Of course, he’s still texting Cupid before every practice.

They ask for Zimms, Kent, and Mills to do interviews after practice. It doesn’t occur to him to question why they specifically asked for Mills until he hears Zach ask Mills about the trade. Kent stops in the middle of his sentence to look over at Mills. If they don’t want him to react, they should do their interviews further away from each other. They got their goalie and they got Cupid back at the same time. Kent can’t help smiling.

“We’re calling him Little Reaper,” Kent says when he turns back and gets asked about the trade. “Too many of us know his older brother. He’ll have to live with it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do also post fic to another site. That link can be found as the website link on this twitter:  
> https://twitter.com/XGrimmReaper33  
> I'm also on tumbler as @lostinanimage
> 
> That's were you can find the Cupid/Mills fics. Though Mason says it's all about him now. And Micah. I didn't actually plan for Jeff to adopt a kind similar to Kent and Kent to adopt a kid the age that Jeff was, but oops, it happened. (I wanted Jeff to have a kid the same age as Mason and Kent to have kids close to the age of Jack's and Matty's kids.)


	6. Chapter 6

They have a long stretch of home games in the beginning of March with only a quick trip to L.A. So of course, the baby waits to come. Then they have a road trip that takes them into Canada and Minnesota before looping back down to Colorado. Kent spends the entire road trip glued to his phone.

“We don’t get to see her right after she’s born anyway,” Kent tells Zimms on the plane to Colorado. “But you know, if we’re there, it’s better. It might be only a few minutes after she’s born if everything goes well or we might have to wait for some kind of stupid paperwork issue. But I want to be there.”

“You’ll make it,” Zimms says.

Kent wakes up to Zimms shaking him.

“Kenny, check your phone. Tater messaged me because you were sleeping.”

 **Alexei:** Mother is on the way to hospital.  
**Kent:** Fuck. We are literally on the plane to Colorado. Keep me updated?  
**Alexei:** I go to hospital. Social worker meet me there. Will keep you updated.

Kent gets up and walks to Coach Day. If anyone had asked him years ago, he would’ve assumed he’d never have kids before he retired. But if he’d been asked at age eighteen, Kent still would have assumed he’d never ask to leave a game. However, Kent only left the hospital to go to the draft because Bob made him, so maybe he should’ve known better.

“We’re putting you right back on a plane to Vegas?” Coach Day asks.

“If you can,” Parse says.

“Kid, you’ve played when you were sick and hurting for us too many times for us to tell you that you can’t miss one game when we have this much space in the standings.”

Kent doesn’t point out that it’s the second game this year. If they don’t make the playoffs, then the fans will say he should’ve been more focused.

“Go home,” Little Reaper says. “If I win this for you, tell my brother it doesn’t excuse all the favors he owes you from helping with his kids. I’m keeping this favor for myself if we have another.”

“We’re not letting you leave the airport,” Hammer says.

“We basically don’t even need you. I’m not giving Zimms back anyway,” Mills says.

“Go back to sleep,” Kent tells them with a laugh. He loves his team. He turns back to where Coach Day has been typing on his tablet. Letting Kent go home has to go through multiple people.

“Alex says stay on the plane,” Coach Day tells him. “We have a day off. If the baby comes quickly and you want to, you can get a flight back and make the game.”

***

Kent stays on the plane until it’s allowed to take off again and go to Vegas. He texts Alexei the whole time, but they don’t get the same kind of updates they’d get if it was a different situation. They know the baby is coming and they’ll hear if anything is wrong. But if it’s just a long labor, then they’ll find out from a social worker when they can see her. Alexei is asleep in the waiting room next to Jeff when Kent gets there.

“Did _you_ get any sleep?” Jeff asks when Kent sits next to him.

“Before Zimms woke me up because Alexei called.”

Jeff gets up and makes Kent sit between them.

“Pick who you want to lean on and try to sleep,” Jeff says. “You’ll be wishing you slept after you’ve got her home.”

Kent was too wired to go back to sleep before, but he knows Jeff has a point. Ethan still wakes up three times a week. Alexei won’t be offended that he snuggles up against Jeff and closes his eyes.

Alexei’s awake when Kent wakes up again.

“No update,” he says.

“Do you have to go somewhere?” Kent asks Jeff.

“Nope. Reaper took Micah to school. Krystle’s going to take the kids to Ty’s when she has to go to class and then Ty and Reaper will have all the kids. The moms are on a flight now.”

“Cool,” Kent says. He takes Alexei’s hand to hold and snuggles back against Jeff.

It’s another hour before a social worker comes to find them.

“She’s perfectly healthy. She’s officially a ward of the state right now. We still have some things to go through. There’s not a problem, but there’s always paperwork.”

“So we can’t see her yet?” Kent asks.

“Technically, you can see her through the window,” the woman says. “But that’s it until the paperwork is done.”

Kent must look disappointed because she adds, “There’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to take her home tonight.”

It shouldn’t feel like so long after months and then hours of waiting, but somehow it feels that way when they know she’s so close. They’ll have even more paperwork and a court date later, but Kent refuses to think about that when they finally get to see her. Alexei’s still scared he’s going to break her, so Kent gets to hold her first. She’s perfect. She looks up at him with wide eyes and she has just a wisp of light brown hair.

“She’s beautiful,” Jeff says.

Alexei holds out his finger so she can grab it in her fist.

“Hey Katya. I’m your Daddy. And this is your Papa,” Kent says. “And your Uncle Jeff. We’re going to take you home to meet your brother as soon as we can.”

***

Kent only gets one night with Kat before he has to be back to Colorado. He feels horrible for sleeping downstairs so that he won’t wake up if the kids cry, but he has to fly in the morning and he’ll likely miss his pre-game nap in the process. It’s one game, and then he can come back home. He’s has just enough time to go straight to the arena to meet up with the team. They all start hollering for pictures when Kent walks in the room.

“Ekaterina Marie Troy,” Zimms says. “Remember when you said my middle name was confusing because it’s French?”

“I was ignorant,” Kent says. “But we’re calling her Kat or Katya if that’s too hard for you.”

They still can’t release any info about Katya so that means the internet is asking why he missed practice. But he’s here now, so that takes a lot of the heat off. It’ll take even more heat off him if they win.

***

After the win, Kent has no texts from Tater, but he does have texts from Jeff and his moms.

 **Jeff:** None of us got to watch you win, but we saw the box score. Great job! I’m at your house and so are our moms. We convinced Tater to let us take over for a bit so he can rest.  
**Mama:** Don’t worry. She’s doing well considering. She’s taking to the bottle just fine.  
**Mom:** She did go to sleep for Alexei earlier, but she woke up after an hour. We decided to let him sleep.  
**Kent:** I love you guys. Thank you. How’s Ethan?  
**Mama:** He’s ok. Maybe a little jealous. He’s asleep in your bed with Alexei.  
**Jeff:** He’s no worse than Mason was when Emily was born. Actually, he’s better. Don’t stress about it.  
**Kent:** Seriously. Thank you.

No one chirps him for texting before they leave the locker room. When he looks around, Zimms is also on his phone and so is Little Reaper. Mills and Cupid are dressed and sitting close together in their stalls. Berry and Hammer are joking with the younger guys.

“How did we get so old?” Kent asks Zimms. “We just won a game and we’re the guys checking on our kids.”

“I don’t know,” Jack says. “Turned out better than we thought though, eh?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Currently I intend for this to be the last fic in this specific verse on Ao3. There are still more extras already written. Also, there is still more fic written and being written on the other site. Link to that can be found on either:  
> My tumbler: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/lostinanimage  
> or  
> Reapers twitter: https://twitter.com/XGrimmReaper33 
> 
> All of the extra Mills/Cupid is there. Most of the later fics focus on the next generation, so Micah and Mason.  
> Maybe I'll get to Lizzie, Trey (Jack and Bitty), Kat, Ethan (Kent and Tater) Morgan, Taylor (Jeff younger ones), Ariel and Asher (Matty and Lana). (But while I know some of their plotlines, that puts us really far in the future and I'm not sure I want to write them yet. I'm not sure Mason will ever let me write them instead of him.)
> 
> That doesn't mean it's the last big Ao3 fic. I have completed but not sent to beta the next Ao3 fic. It'll have Kent, but be a bit different. ;)
> 
> Oh, and if you didn't notice, Kat's named after Mom and Mama but the Russian versions. ;)


End file.
